Comedy tonight at The Blind Pig

Just a reminder: Comedy Zone tonight at The Blind Pig Saloon. Here's the article I wrote about the headliner for tonight, Paul Hooper:
Hooper found the nerve to live the dream
BY TIM WOOD
LOWDOWN
Paul Hooper knew this was what he wanted to do. Problem was, he couldn’t get up the gumption to get up on stage.
So the Charlotte native spent most of his age 19-22 years trying everything else — he worked at a gym, as an irrigation supply salesman, looked into college — but nothing fit.
Finally, at an open mic night in February 1998, he finally found the courage. “I got up there and I thought I was doing five minutes and I was so nervous and hyped, it was probably more like two. And 45 seconds of that might have been funny,” he said.
He spent the next five times on stage bombing a lot. But a few weeks in, Hooper found his groove.
“That’s what it’s all about. You just got to get out there and do it,” said the man who describes his act as unfiltered purist stand-up. “When you’re on stage enough, it forces you to get better. You feel the crowd and your instincts take over if it’s truly for you.”
Hooper has spent the past 11 years on the road, with the past couple of years leading to 40 weeks of up to nine shows per week. Until recently, most of his gigs are a blur.
“It was a lot of partying. You’re hanging with new people every night. I was having so much fun and I was drinking real hard at times. You feel like a poor man’s rock star,” he said. “But then you realize, hey, I’m not in Motley Crue. I cleaned up and started really focusing on the business and the art form of what I was doing.”
Hooper said his act is in the vein of the legends like George Carlin and Richard Pryor and the more contemporary geniuses like Doug Stanhope, Louis C.K. and Dave Attell.
“Those are the guys that are just out there killing it from night to night. They love the act of doing comedy. They’re not there for a sitcom development deal, they just love the crowd and the rush and the art of what they do.”
Hooper isn’t sure if he’s quite in that tier talent-wise, but he knows he’s right there in the passion department.
“Hey, there’re plenty of downsides to the business. It’s a lot of travel and it’s hard to have a normal life. But I absolutely love doing this. Eleven years, I’m always tweaking, always trying new stuff and always focused on getting better.
“This is the world’s greatest gig. There’re 2,000 guys out there performing and thousands more that want to be on that stage. I just wish the guys who have lost the passion would get out of the way and give us all some more stage time. This is too much fun to not love every minute of it.”
IF YOU GO
Comedy Zone Thursdays at The Blind Pig with Paul Hooper and Tom Mullins
When: Shows at 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Blind Pig Saloon, 39 Persimmon St. (off the Bluffton Parkway)
Tickets: $10 cover charge
Details: 706-0744 or www.blindpigsc.com